Moms New Home

Ok so yesterday was actually a really difficult day emotionally. As I updated in yesterday's post, mom was released from Renown around noon. My sister Kelly was able to go down and take care of that part of it thankfully otherwise I don't know how we would have done it.

Once released it was time to head to Carson City and check mom into her new senior care facility, now what would be known as home.

Cicely and I drove down and met Kelly there so she would not have the entire burden on her shoulders plus we wanted to see mom and make she she knew she was not being abandoned by everyone that she cared about.

When Cicely and I arrived mom was in the dining area having lunch. She was upset and did not want to be there which we understood completely. Problem is that on some level I do think that she realizes that she needs to be there.

We stayed for a couple hours, sat in her room and talked and helped her settle in a little while Kelly unpacked some of her clothes and related. By this time mom was getting sleepy and wanted to lay down so we fixed up her bed, got her a pillow and told her we love her, gave her a nice big hug and a kiss and left for the day so she could rest.

Rise And Shine

Kelly emailed me this morning to let me know that she checked on mom this morning and the head nurse said she had a good night. This was great news to be honest and I am really glad to hear it. They did have to put a pressure pad on her bed though. A pressure pad basically triggers an alarm if the person gets up in the middle of the night so the nurses can get to them and not risk a fall or some other type of injury. The facility is considered a "locked" facility so even if she did get up she would not be able to go anywhere and get lost or injured like when she was living at home.

Before breakfast I guess she was a little agitated with the nurses while they were trying to get her up and ready to go. This happened at Renown hospital as well the first day and is just moms defense mechanism kicking in to strangers, makes complete sense. Once she is there for a little longer she will get into the groove I think and let her guard down a little.

I plan to take her a stuffed dog that I ordered that basically looks just like her boo-dog Nemo - he was a Shih Poo (Shih Tzu and Poodle mix) very smart and extremely loving dogs. It seems most of the residents carry something around with them all the time. From what I have read it's actually part of the therapy for both Alzheimer and dementia patients of various types. I hope mom will like it and find it comforting. If not, no harm, no foul of course.

Maybe at some point she will take part in the activities they offer as well. They do things like bingo, music, even some occasional outings to go out to eat, shopping and so on. They have a beauty salon on site so we want to get her in there also so she can feel more like herself again by getting her hair done and what ever else she would like.

We love you mom so much and wish we had millions of dollars so you could just stay with us 24/7 and be cared for in our home. Your new home is very nice and will be great for you though so please hang in there and give it a chance. We look forward to visiting you as often as we can and soon bringing in baby Zoey for you to meet each other.

So yea all-in-all yesterday was a pretty rough day because of this. Something you never want to have to do and when or if you have to it's extremely difficult. I hope we see improvement in her simply from being on a schedule and not have her go the other direction and become more like some of the further progressed residents in the home.

Only time will tell of course. We are all hoping for the best for her and will do whatever we can to make it the best, most comfortable place to call home.

Sums It Up

So yea that about sums it up for today. Not much else of importance to rabble about. Today is my Friday at least so that is cool. Not sure what I plan to do tomorrow though. If the weather is nice maybe I will pour some concrete curbing in the area I need to patch up. Otherwise it may be a day of relaxing and bass guitar with a little TV mixed in. I will just play it by ear I guess and see what the day puts in front of me. Cant be that bad, wont have to work!

Photo: Happy Apple brand caramel apple. Cicely and I each bought one to have for a treat this week. We don't chow down on stuff like this very often so let's hope they are as good as they look. Have to make up for the 232 calories somehow right!